For birdwatchers, each season brings its own unique delights. In winter, we welcome feathered visitors from the north and east. Whilst we’re layering up with jumpers and coats, these hardy birds are enjoying the relatively mild climate. Compared to the freezing winters of their breeding grounds in Fennoscandia and northern Russia, the UK is a pleasant winter getaway – like us heading to the Canary Islands for some winter sun! 

Swans a swimming

The mute swan is a familiar and beloved sight on canals and lakes. For most of the year, it’s the only wild swan you’re likely to see. But in winter, two other swan species cross the sea to join them.  

Whooper swans are the more common of the two. Like the mute swan, they’re gleaming white, but their bill is black with a bright yellow wedge. Most arrive from Iceland, with the vast majority of Icelandic whoopers choosing to winter in Britain and Ireland. They tend to avoid southwest England, but are widely found across the rest of the UK – particularly in East Anglia. They roost overnight on open water and often feed in fields during the day. Listen out for their loud, trumpeting calls.  

Bewick’s swans are slightly smaller, with less yellow on their beak. They’re also much rarer. The number of Bewick’s swans visiting the UK has dropped dramatically in recent years. This is partly linked to threats such as habitat loss, lead poisoning and illegal shooting on their migration from Arctic Russia, but warmer winters are also playing a major role. As climate change brings milder winter weather to continental Europe, the swans don’t need to fly so far. Instead, they stop short in countries such as Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. 

All I want for Christmas is smew 

Swans aren’t the only waterfowl that wander onto our wetlands each winter. We’re visited by huge numbers of geese, mainly pink-footed, brent and barnacle geese. You could also see smaller numbers of white-fronted geese and tundra and taiga bean geese, as well as the occasional rarity like a red-breasted goose.  

Plenty of ducks dip in for winter, too. Many waterbodies host noisy flocks of wigeons and teals, or shovellers spinning as they feed. Goldeneyes are a slightly scarcer sight, but can often be seen diving or displaying on deeper lakes. Any of these delightful ducks can brighten a winter walk, but there’s one species in particular that many birdwatchers hope to seek out this season: the smew. 

The smew is sadly a rare visitor, increasingly so in recent years. Milder winters mean they no longer have to travel as far from their breeding grounds in the taiga forests of northern Europe. Most of the smews that make it this far west are females or youngsters. They’re beautiful birds, with chestnut crowns and white cheeks, affectionately referred to as redheads. But the adult males are the true showstoppers. Their plumage is black and dazzling white, a monochrome masterpiece with a well-coiffed crest and a dark, dainty beak. 

They still visit the UK in small numbers each winter, mainly England. Smews often return to the same lakes year after year, so check local birdwatching records to see if there’s a hotspot near you. Cold snaps on the continent can push more birds across the North Sea.  

A twite Christmas 

Twite are delightful little birds. In winter, they’re buffish-brown, with a suitably seasonal splash of cinnamon on the face and throat. They could easily be overlooked as linnets, but their most distinctive feature in winter is a mustard yellow bill.  

Sadly, twites are a rare sight in most of Britain. They nest here, in uplands and on coastal crofts, but their population has plummeted. They’re now mostly found in Scotland. In winter, many move to saltmarshes and other coastal habitats, particularly on the east coast of England and Scotland. They’re joined by twite from continental Europe. Encountering a flock of twite is always a treat, hearing their bouncing, linnet-like calls, punctuated by the occasional distinctive ‘twi-eet’ that gives them their name. 

Twites sometimes share these coastal wintering spots with two other travellers: the snow bunting and the shore lark. Snow buntings breed on some Scottish mountains, but many more winter on our coasts, arriving from Iceland and Fennoscandia. Look out for them taking off in an explosion of white, like a restless flock of snowflakes. Shore larks are rarer still, mostly found in small numbers on the east coast of England. Their mottled brown backs make them hard to spot on saltmarshes or beaches, but good views reveal a beautiful black and yellow pattern on their face.  

I often make my own winter migration to the coast, hoping to see some of these brilliant birds. But you don’t have to travel far to find winter visitors. As well as the ducks mentioned above, there are flocks of migrant birds roaming the country. Look out for redwings and fieldfares in hedgerows, or bramblings wheezing away beneath beech trees. Even the robins and blackbirds in your garden could be winter visitors from beyond the North Sea. Enjoy them, while flocks last!